


Christmas Spirit

by cupofkoushi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 13:12:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13124427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cupofkoushi/pseuds/cupofkoushi
Summary: Iwaizumi's neighbor keeps playing loud Christmas music, much to his annoyance.





	Christmas Spirit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [evercelle (amagnetism)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/amagnetism/gifts).



> I wrote this for Evercelle as a little gift in response for her lovely Iwaoi postcards! I was so touched that Ever had taken the time to send out these postcards for free for Christmas and just wanted to spend some time creating something in return! It was my first time ever writing Iwaoi so I apologize if they are a bit out of character, but I tried! This was my first time writing in I want to say... 2 years? It's nice to be back.  
> I hope you all enjoy, and if you're reading this Ever, thank you so much for sending those out on your own free time and money. I thought it was way too sweet and I hope that you have a lovely holiday season with your loved ones! You deserve nothing but love and happiness! <3

Iwaizumi was growing tired of hearing “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” and “Blue Christmas” blast through his neighbor’s apartment. The first day he gave him a little break, but _man_ was Tooru Oikawa beginning to push his luck by day three. He played a huge array of Christmas songs, but those two seemed to definitely be his favorite, and while Iwaizumi had heard of those songs before, he could now say that he knew every lyric at this point. 

Iwaizumi was trying desperately to shut out the music, but by the time “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” came on for the fourth time in a row, he slammed his coffee mug down on the table, slipped on some tennis shoes, and found himself climbing the stairs to Oikawa’s apartment. How nobody else in the complex had complained was a mystery, but when the front door had opened in response to Iwaizumi’s knock, he was face-to-face with his noisy neighbor dressed in a bright red sweater with holiday garland sewn onto the front to create a christmas tree with an incredible amount of pom-poms hot-glued on as ornaments. It took him a moment, but when he heard Oikawa’s cheery voice over the first verse of “Santa Baby”, his brows furrowed.

“Iwa-chan! What’s wrong? Was I stomping too loud--”

“What is with that sweater?” 

Oikawa pulled out a small remote from his jeans pocket and with the press of a button, the music stopped. Iwaizumi felt himself breathe a sigh of relief. But Oikawa looked completely overjoyed, his eyes crinkling slightly in the corners as he stuck his arms out to complete an exaggerated twirl. Iwaizumi took note of the holiday garland wrapped around on the back as well.

“I made it! Isn’t it super creative? I made a sweater for every week this month!”

Iwaizumi sighed. “That’s a bit…” He trailed off, desperately trying to find the words that could express his very slight distaste for the holiday cheer this time of year while also being polite. They were neighbors after all. He hardly knew the guy and definitely wanted to keep this as civil as possible. Oikawa seemed to be waiting for the finale, his eyes almost sparkling with excitement. “Festive.”

It seemed to have worked, though, as Oikawa held the door open wide and smiled. “Come on in, Iwa-Chan! Sorry to have had you stand in the hallway for so long! I’ll make some hot chocolate!”

Iwaizumi didn’t know how to respond. He simply stepped inside and found himself amazed at just how “festive” Oikawa truly was. A large decorated tree reached toward the ceiling, multiple lights flashing along its branches. Presents were littered underneath and holiday decor had definitely been all taken out as a Santa Claus plush adorned the coffee table while red and white stockings truly hung from the fireplace. Wooden snowflakes painted white hung on the walls and when he could smell the peppermint coming from the kitchen, Iwaizumi felt his eyebrow raise as he tried to fight back a grin.

This Oikawa guy must be _obsessed_ with Christmas. 

When Oikawa trotted back out of the kitchen and patted the empty seat next to him on the couch, Iwaizumi followed and thanked him for the drink while he sat down as well. The peppermint flavor was strong and when he saw crushed peppermint on the whipped cream in his drink, he felt himself chuckle. It was fitting, all things considered.

“I see you’re very enthusiastic about Christmas…” Iwaizumi began, but almost immediately Oikawa pulled the remote out of his pocket once more and flipped the music back on. Luckily, Oikawa lowered the volume right as the melody blasted through the stereo system set up underneath the television on the wall, and the soft lull of Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas” came back out.

Iwaizumi felt his right eye twitch at the very familiar beat and before he could mention his intentions to Oikawa for visiting his apartment, Oikawa’s smile was beaming again. 

“Christmas is my favorite time of year! It’s always so fun! The Christmas movies, the peppermint, the gingerbread houses, the Christmas songs,” Iwaizumi’s eye twitched ever so slightly, “the decorations, the sweaters, the gifts! What isn’t great about that?”

Iwaizumi pondered this for a bit. It wasn’t like he was a grinch or anything, although many would likely disagree. He was just tired of listening to “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” every time he came home from work. But he also wouldn’t be caught dead in one of the sweaters Oikawa made, especially if they looked like the one he was currently wearing. Iwaizumi stole a quick glance at it while he took a sip of his hot chocolate. Well, it looked good on Oikawa at least. 

He felt his gaze shift as he took note of all the presents under the brightly lit tree. It even had a white sheet under it to look like snow.

“Don’t you live alone? You have a ton of presents.”

Oikawa laughed and set down his mug on the coffee table. Iwaizumi cringed that there was no coaster underneath it.

“Well, Christmas is all about giving, right? So I have tons of presents for a bunch of people! In fact…” Oikawa trailed off as he shuffled over to the tree in his reindeer slippers (Iwaizumi truly had not noticed he was wearing them earlier). He watched Oikawa pick up a present, read the tag, put it down, and pick up another. It took him a moment, but when he had found what he was looking for, he smiled and practically darted back to the couch. “This is for you!”

Iwaizumi stared at the messily wrapped box in front of him, his eyes tracing the red and green polka dotted wrapping paper and the golden bow placed off-center on top. He took it with slowly outreached hands. 

“For me? I’m surprised.” It wasn’t like he and Oikawa were particularly close.

“Yep!” Oikawa’s voice was what could only be described as “sing-songy” as he plopped back down in his seat, his body sinking into the couch. “It’s okay if you didn’t get me anything. I got you this present because it’s Christmas, not because I was expecting anything back!”

“That’s not what I was trying to say…”

Oikawa put his left hand up as he grabbed his mug back up and took another sip, a whipped cream mustache reminiscent for a moment before he wiped it on his sleeve. _What a child_ , Iwaizumi thought.

“I know, I’m just saying! Your very confused and embarrassed expression said it all,” he laughed. It sounded nicer than the music playing, that was for sure. “But don’t forget that I’m hosting a Christmas party for the whole complex next weekend! You can open your present the morning of, okay?”

“Huh? The morning—”

But Oikawa was already standing up and offering a hand to lead Iwaizumi out the front door. Iwaizumi was a bit baffled, another eyebrow raised for the second time today, but he let himself be lead out as he left his almost-finished hot chocolate behind. He swiftly turned around once he was out in the hallway and locked eyes with Oikawa, his fingers gripping the gift in his hand a little too tightly. Why did it feel like he had just gotten kicked out?

“Oh… Thank you for the gift. And for inviting me inside…” He paused to think for a moment. How was he supposed to possibly complain about how loud the music was at this point? He had been invited in for a hot chocolate and was now leaving with a gift that he did not expect to receive. “And the hot chocolate…” Iwaizumi finished, deciding against possibly being rude. 

But as Oikawa was starting to wave a polite goodbye, and as Iwaizumi felt himself wondering what had flipped the switch to practically get kicked out of his neighbor’s apartment, Oikawa grinned, an award-winning smile shining through. “Also, don’t worry, Iwa-chan. I promise to turn down the music.” There was a slight redness to his cheeks as he said that but Iwaizumi was wondering why his neighbor was blushing when it was he who had definitely felt embarrassed.

Iwaizumi stood in the hallway completely at a loss for words as Oikawa shut the door with a soft _click._ It took him a moment to collect his thoughts— a bit longer than he would’ve liked— but he marched on home, lightly placed his neighbor’s gift on top of his living room table, and sighed. He didn’t have a tree put up after all. He didn’t think he needed to since he lived alone, but after seeing Oikawa’s tree, it made him second-guess whether or not he wanted to run out to the store and buy one himself. 

Iwaizumi sat in silence for the first time in three days. It surprisingly felt a little lonely without the Christmas songs. 

  


Iwaizumi had debated on going to the Christmas party that Oikawa had mentioned. He hadn’t decided if he wanted to be social that night or if he just wanted to sleep in preparations for his trip in the morning to visit family. The thought of being up late only to rise bright and early to sit on a train ride for a few hours did not seem appealing and it was almost enough to convince himself to stay.

But once he heard “Silent Night” blare throughout the complex, much louder than it had been all week, he decided that the party was likely in full swing now and he should at least pay a visit. Oikawa had gotten him a gift after all. 

Iwaizumi clutched the gift he received from Oikawa (he hadn’t opened it yet), and the gift he had purchased in return as he trotted up the staircase. Sure they had been familiar with each other and had chit-chatted while getting their mail downstairs or while they were both holed up in the laundry room complaining about how old the machines were, but he didn’t think it was enough to warrant a Christmas present. But maybe Oikawa was just that kind of person?

When he had arrived upstairs, Oikawa’s door was wide open as people lingered in the doorframe and even spilled out into the hallway. Iwaizumi walked in and was even more surprised to see how many people were strewn about. 

It took him a moment to find Oikawa through the room of people but as soon as they made eye contact, Oikawa was walking through the crowd to meet Iwaizumi in the kitchen. He gave yet another grin and handed Iwaizumi a red cup. Iwaizumi took a quick look and somehow managed to be surprised that it was eggnog— how… festive.

“Merry Christmas, Iwa-Chan!” 

Iwaizumi fought back the urge to tell Oikawa that it was in fact not Christmas, that it was currently Saturday and Christmas was on Monday, but bit his tongue instead and stuck out the gift he had brought.

It was much neater than Oikawa’s. The box was covered with black wrapping paper that had golden reindeer silhouettes printed on it. A hand-tied golden bow was placed on top and for some reason, Iwaizumi felt pretty self-conscious about how obvious it was that he had tried so hard to make it look beautiful.

Oikawa blinked at it for a few moments and grabbed it a little too quickly. “Iwa-chan, did you really get me something back? And it’s wrapped so pretty! For someone who seems to be a grinch, you wrapped this really damn nicely.”

“Well one of us had to,” Iwaizumi joked and paused for a moment, realizing what had come out of his mouth. Perhaps Oikawa wasn’t really the type to take those kinds of jokes—

Oikawa’s laughter rung out over the loud music, his smile as radiant as ever. “How mean, Iwa-chan!” _That was a relief._ But Oikawa looked him over momentarily and before Iwaizumi could question it, he realized Oikawa’s eyes had fallen on the present he had given Iwaizumi the other day in his hands, still unwrapped. 

Iwaizumi’s face flushed a little as he found himself looking elsewhere, anywhere else but Oikawa’s curious eyes. “I thought it was pretty nice of you to get me a gift, so I got you one in return and wanted us to open it together. I just thought it would be pretty cool, but it’s fine if you want to unwrap it privately--” 

Oikawa’s cheeks were slightly redder as well but his smile grew wider and Iwaizumi found himself smiling in return. “You’re such a sap, Iwa-chan.” 

But before he could respond, Iwaizumi briefly caught Oikawa tearing into his gift, meaning that he should also be ripping the paper off. He was slightly late (Oikawa waited patiently so they could open the boxes together), and as they both pulled their gifts out and unfolded them, an obvious stunned expression crossed both of their faces.

Iwaizumi was holding a black Christmas sweater that had “I’m On The Nice List” written in the typical white Christmas sweater font, his eyes quickly darting to Oikawa’s expression who was just as stunned as he held up his own black Christmas sweater that said “I’m On The Naughty List” in the same font. In fact…

“Did we just get matching sweaters for each other?” Iwaizumi’s voice faltered, his entire being internally screaming at himself for his coincidental choice in a gift. He turned his sweater around to show Oikawa who had done the same. It seemed that the sweaters were actually a part of a matching pair and the two happened to miss the memo at the store. Iwaizumi wasn’t sure how to feel yet, his eyes widened with surprise. 

“It seems so!” But there was something to Oikawa’s expression. It seemed so… _bright._ It seemed like he was happy about this development, and before Iwaizumi could ask him if he wanted him to return the gift, Oikawa chucked off the sweater he had currently been wearing for the party. It was another homemade sweater, a felt reindeer with an actual light-up nose on the front, and Oikawa tossed it on top of his kitchen counter before pulling the black sweater on over his white t-shirt. He placed his hands on his hips when it was in place but gave Iwaizumi a confused look when he saw he was the only one wearing it. “You’re not going to wear it?” Iwaizumi felt bad that the sweater Oikawa had handmade was tossed aside for his store-bought one, but there was a certain pride to Oikawa’s expression that he chose not to question.

Iwaizumi felt fairly awkward, but slipped the sweater on anyway. He looked down at it once more now that it was actually on him before giving a chuckle. “Why did you give me the ‘nice list’ one, then?”

Oikawa pondered something for a moment before realization hit and he was puffing his cheeks out slightly. “Hey! That means you _purposely_ gave me the ‘naughty list’ one!” Iwaizumi felt himself genuinely laugh, his shoulder shaking slightly as he did. “Ours should be switched!”

“Honestly,” Iwaizumi began, his arms crossing over his chest as he smirked, “you deserve to be on the naughty list for how damn loud your music has been the last couple of weeks. December has been hell so far.”

Oikawa clutched his hand over his chest as he gave an exaggerated gasp. “I can’t believe the betrayal, Iwa-chan! How could you say such a cruel thing to me?” 

“I think listening to ‘Feliz Navidad’ for the umpteenth time drove me to the point of madness. That happens to people, sometimes, you know that? Or maybe you just had no idea that you can drive people insane?”

Iwaizumi bit the inside of his cheek, wondering again if he had said something too forward of a joke and possibly went a bit too extreme, but that feeling was once again washed away as Oikawa mockingly wiped a tear and insisted that he should have gotten Iwaizumi the ‘naughty’ one. 

“Santa wouldn’t put me on his naughty list after all,” Oikawa rambled on, his hand gestures becoming more grand as he raised his arms up in excitement. “He would be happy that I put on so much music for his arrival!”

“Yeah, I mean, he could definitely hear it all the way from the North Pole, that’s for sure.”

The two of them were standing in the middle of the small kitchen in Oikawa’s apartment that had a holiday party surrounding it, but for some reason, all of that seemed to have drowned out as Oikawa’s laughter cut through all of it for the second time that night. It was a happy tone.

“Well, Iwa-chan. Thank you so much for the gift! I guess we’re too in sync,” Oikawa mentioned, his eyebrow raised as he smiled. “But, alas, we still do have a party to attend.” He gestured at the crowd before them as Iwaizumi picked up the cup of eggnog he had set down before their gift exchange. “How about we go take a picture of us in front of the backdrop!?”

Before Iwaizumi could question why there was a backdrop and really question why Oikawa had gone so decorative for this party, his wrist was seized as he was suddenly pulled through the small crowd, Oikawa in charge with a determined grin. 

Oikawa’s furniture had been moved out of the way to reveal a section of the wall with a large green Christmas wreath hanging on it. Oikawa had found someone to take their picture, practically thrusted his phone in her hands, and gave the cheekiest grin with a peace sign held up in front of him. With his free hand, he wrapped it around Iwaizumi’s shoulder, and Iwaizumi found himself giving a soft smile in return. The girl had taken a couple and Iwaizumi didn’t bother to ask to see them, judging by Oikawa’s pleased smile, he knew that they must have been okay. Oikawa felt compelled to show him anyway before requesting Instagram usernames and asking for permission to post one of the pictures.

Any thoughts of lacking cheer for the holiday season dissolved at the sight of Iwaizumi in a Christmas sweater, a cup of eggnog in one hand, taking pictures at Oikawa’s Christmas party. But, he felt his heart melt a little at Oikawa’s grin as he thanked Iwaizumi for coming and asked to exchange phone numbers as well. 

Maybe being in the Christmas spirit didn’t have to be such a bad thing.

**Author's Note:**

> The sweaters were from here: ([x](https://www.amazon.com/TeeStars-Naughty-Christmas-Holiday-Sweatshirts/dp/B077B7WBHC))  
> How do people start and end stories? It's a lot harder to do than I remember. It probably shows. haha.  
> Sorry that by the time you probably read this, Ever, it'll be past Christmas since I'm posting this on Christmas Eve, but I still hope you enjoy!  
> Also, selfless self-promotion since I plan on writing again: ([x](https://koshi-suga.tumblr.com))


End file.
